New Rectors Announced for U.S. Jesuit Theology Centers in Boston and Berkeley, California

For Immediate Release

(Washington, D.C., March
13, 2018) — Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus,
has named new rectors for the two Jesuit theology centers in the United States.

Fr.
Michael Boughton, SJ, will serve as rector of the Faber Jesuit Community at the
Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (BCSTM), while Fr. Martin
Connell, SJ, will serve as rector of the Jesuit Community at the Jesuit School
of Theology (JST) of Santa Clara University.

Fr.
Boughton replaces Fr. James Gartland, SJ, at the Faber Community; and Fr.
Connell replaces Fr. John McGarry, SJ, at the Jesuit Community at JST. Both
have served as rectors since 2012 and are finishing their terms.

It’s
a homecoming for Frs. Boughton and Connell. Each earned a Master of Divinity
degree from the institution he will now serve.

After
earning a master’s degree in English from Boston College and finishing theology
studies at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (the precursor to the Boston
College School of Theology and Ministry), Fr. Boughton was ordained in 1979. He
then served for 10 years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester,
Massachusetts, as the college’s chaplain and an English department lecturer.
For the next five years, he was a lecturer in the English department at
Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, while serving as rector of the
Jesuit community there. From 1996–2006, he served as president of Fairfield
College Preparatory School in Connecticut followed by assignments as the
director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Boston College and as
formation assistant for the Maryland and Northeast Provinces of the Society of
Jesus. In November of 2017, he returned to the Center for Ignatian Spirituality
at Boston College, where he currently serves as associate director.

After
finishing theology studies at the Jesuit School of Theology, Fr. Connell was
ordained in 1994 and began serving as assistant principal for academic affairs
at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland. For the next several years, he
served as principal at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy
before earning a Ph.D. in teaching and learning from the Gevirtz Graduate
School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From
2005–2009, Fr. Connell taught in the School of Education at Loyola Marymount
University in Los Angeles and then moved to Dodoma, Tanzania, where he helped
co-found a coeducational Jesuit boarding school, St. Peter Claver High School.
Fr. Connell returned to the U.S. in 2013 to serve as rector of the Jesuits in
Cleveland and currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of
Education and School Psychology at John Carroll University in University
Heights, Ohio.

Fr.
Timothy Kesicki, SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the U.S.,
who has supervisory responsibility for the Jesuit theology centers, said the
role of rector is crucially important because rectors are responsible for the
formation of Jesuit scholastics in their preparation for ordained ministry and
for the formation of Jesuit brothers for pastoral work in the Church.

“The
Jesuits studying at our theology centers in the U.S. come from across the U.S.
and around the world. They are a diverse community called to a singular
mission: to serve the Church for the greater glory of God. I couldn’t ask for
two better Jesuits to serve as rectors at our two U.S. theology centers, and I
know Frs. Boughton and Connell will bring extraordinary cura personalis (care
of the person) to their new roles.”

For
their part, both Frs. Boughton and Connell expressed excitement about their new
missions.

“It
is a grace and privilege to walk with Jesuits from around the world who are
preparing for ordination and pastoral ministry and with our new priests who are
pursuing further studies in this wonderful community and excellent school. I am
honored and humbled by this mission,” said Fr. Boughton.

Fr.
Connell said, “I completed my degree at JST 25 years ago, and I'm grateful for
the preparation I received to minister in the Church as a Jesuit priest. Pope
Francis has repeatedly underscored the importance of discernment for ministers
in the Church. JST played an important role in forming me in spiritual
discernment, and my time there was marked by supportive friendships with lay
students and members of other religious congregations. I look forward to
returning to ‘Holy Hill’.”

Fr.
Kesicki also expressed his thanks to Frs. McGarry and Gartland for their six
years of service as rectors. “John McGarry and Jim Gartland have been exemplary
rectors. They are creative collaborators, who created spiritually discerning
communities infused with energy and mission, and I know I join Jesuits from
around the world in expressing my profound gratitude.”

Frs.
Boughton and Connell begin their new roles this summer.

###

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Co-founded in 1540 by Saint Ignatius Loyola, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is the largest order of priests and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church. The Society's mission is to put reconciliation into practice each day — with God, with human beings and with the environment. Jesuit priests and brothers are involved in educational, pastoral and spiritual ministries around the world, practicing a faith that promotes justice. In Canada and the United States, there are 30 Jesuit colleges and 80 pre-secondary and secondary schools with a shared goal of developing competent, compassionate and committed leaders in the service of the Church and society. Jesuits minister in parishes and at retreat houses and serve as chaplains at prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and in the military. The Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents all Jesuits in Canada and the U.S. For more information on the Society of Jesus, visit jesuits.org.

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